Back in 1994, Tony Bacon sat down with Beatles legend Paul McCartney as part of his research for the first edition of his magnum opus, The Bass Book.
“McCartney could not have been more generous, entertaining, and candid in the few hours we spent together,” wrote Bacon.
“I started by asking about my favourite period of his bass work with the Beatles, during the making of Sgt Pepper.”
During the conversation, McCartney was asked about the early days when the bass was just something that had to be put in the song. He was noted that it seemed that he was thinking about being a bass player in his own right. McCartney recalled meeting Elvis and also revealed what he said to him via Music Radar:
“From the word go, once I got over the fact that I was lumbered with the bass [laughs], I did get quite proud to be a bass player, quite proud of the idea. Once you realised the control you had over the band, you were in control. They can’t go anywhere, man. Ha! Power!
“I then started to identify with other bass players, to talk bass with the guys in the band. In fact, when we met Elvis, he was trying to learn bass, so I was like, ‘You’re trying to learn bass, are you … son? Sit down, let me show you a few things’.
“So I was very proud of being the bass player. But as it went on and I got into that melodic thing, that was probably the peak of my interest.”
